Lutron is making a splash with its high-tech lighting

Its products link into computers for its illuminated devices.

Company Rank (tie) 16

Most of the 2,400 exhibitors at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this year had a single booth.

Lutron Electronics Co. was among the few at the annual event -- the biggest of its kind in the world -- with two.

There was its main booth, dominated by giant windows with mechanical shades that, at the press of a button, would let in a lot of light, just a little or none at all.

And then there was the other booth -- a much smaller display, but one that rubbed shoulders with one of the event's headliners, Microsoft Corp.

The world's leading software company spared no expense to promote its Windows XP Media Center Edition, a computer operating system envisioned as the interface to and bridge between all of a home's electronic devices. Its exhibit was located at the entrance to the show's central hall, guaranteeing maximum exposure, and took up a chunk of floor space the size of a basketball court.

Featured were the kiosks of Microsoft's various Media Center partners, including Lutron, whose staff demonstrated how somebody could use a Media Center PC to access and control a Lutron home-lighting system.

The collaboration underscored how far Lutron has come since 1961, when Joel Spira, inventor of the solid state light dimmer switch, and his wife, Ruth Rodale Spira, a scion of the Rodale publishing empire, founded the closely held private company.

"Get a few beers'

Joel, a native New Yorker who earned a physics degree at Purdue University, said in a 2002 interview that he got the idea for the dimmer switch while working for the U.S. government on a fuse mechanism for atomic bombs.

"I calculated the number of houses that we had in America I think at the time there were 60 million," he said. "I figured why, if we got one of them in each house, and we were selling them I think at $14 apiece, we'd be able to get a few beers out of the whole thing."

Joel later worked on the concept in the spare bedroom of the couple's New York City apartment. Ruth then helped her husband launch the company in her native Lehigh Valley. The Rodales, who had been involved in light manufacturing before their Emmaus publishing business took off, provided seed money, space at a former plant and advice on the industry.

Since then, Lutron has picked up more than 100 patents, constructed a 50-acre business campus in Upper Saucon Township and established itself as the world's No. 1 manufacturer of lighting controls. The company has roughly 1,200 employees in the Lehigh Valley, making it the region's 16th biggest employer, in a tie with Easton Hospital.

Its products range from simple switches available at The Home Depot to the integrated systems it has designed for Madison Square Garden, Disney World and the White House. Such systems allow Benetton's Fifth Avenue clothing store to automatically adjust its lighting to seasonal changes, a Houston church to create dramatic effects at the touch of a button and a London conference center to highlight its century-old architecture.

In spite of itself, Lutron has managed to keep a relatively low profile at home.

The Spiras are media-shy. Joel, who is 78, and Ruth, who is 76, rarely grant interviews. They forbid even Lutron's designated public relations contacts from speaking on the record with local news media. Basic information about the company, such as its total employment, is only available from outside sources, if at all.

Sun and shades

In 1970, Lutron moved out of Rodale and into a 30,000-square-foot office building in Upper Saucon. Several more buildings have been added since then, including an $18 million, 130,000-square-foot structure that opened in 2001.

The company also has facilities in Alburtis and Upper Macungie Township. International locations include sales and service offices in London, Berlin, Tokyo, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Joel Spira, who continues to serve as Lutron's chairman and director of research, said in his 2002 interview that his company earmarks 10 percent of sales revenue for research and development. He credited much of his company's growth to the integration of computer chips.

"It has enabled us to make much smarter products," such as remote-controlled lighting systems, he said.

Today, lighting means more than light bulbs. It's also about making the most of sunlight. In 2000, Lutron acquired a Richmond, Va., manufacturer of mechanical window shades.

As lighting systems become more complex, the challenge is to make their controls simple. Hence Lutron's partnership with Microsoft.

"The added feature of controlling home lighting while enjoying music or watching a movie will exponentially enhance a Windows XP Media Center user's experience," Andy Wakefield, manager of Lutron's home systems business unit, said in a statement.

Indeed, Lutron has helped establish the Valley's reputation as a budding high-tech center, said Joe Lane, vice president of enterprise development at Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania.

"That's the kind of company we want to see grow and flourish here," said Lane, whose Bethlehem-based organization supports high-tech economic development throughout the region. "They're very innovative."

sam.kennedy@mcall.com

610-820-6517

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LUTRON

ELECTRONICS CO.

Headquarters: Upper Saucon Township

In a nutshell: Makes lighting controls, from simple dimmer switches to integrated systems for window shades and industrial lighting.

Ownership: Closely held private company controlled by founders Joel and Ruth Rodale Spira

Local operations: 50-acre business campus in Upper Saucon, and facilities in Alburtis and Upper Macungie Township

Employment in Lehigh and Northampton counties: 1,200

Little-known fact: Founder Joel Spira got the idea for a dimmer switch while working for the U.S. government on a fuse mechanism for atomic bombs.